Colorimetric assay of rare disseminated tumor cells in real sample by aptamer-induced rolling circle amplification on cell surface

•The aptamer-induced rolling circle amplification on cell surface displayed remarkable signal amplification and high specificity.•The designed colorimetric assay could distinguish as low as 10 cells/mL tumor cells in 10000 times of benign cells mixture.•Direct identification tumor cells disseminating form various primary site in multiple types of clinical body fluid samples.